Foldable golf practice tent

ABSTRACT

A foldable golf practice tent comprising a tent having a ceiling, a back, left and right sides, a floor and a wide front open face for accepting golf balls hit by club; an elastic frame structure connected to the fabric of the tent that provides structural support for the tent; and a planar net coupled to the front of the ceiling, such that the net hangs from the ceiling, partially slops towards the back of the tent and extends loosely towards the floor, wherein the net is placed behind the open face such that golf balls that have been hit into the tent contact the net and drop within the tent. The elastic frame structure comprises two fiber circles, such that the tent can be made into light and solid, wherein the tent is easily folded into a small portable size and opens automatically in seconds when unfold.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

To swing like a pro and achieve a lower handicap would be a dream to realize for every amateur golfer. We knew that practice makes perfect. But it is hard to go a driving range anytime every day for most of amateur golfers. What if we own a portable driving range by ourselves? It would surely be a fantastic experience to deliver our enthusiasm without worrying about the time and weather. We can practice golf anywhere and anytime as we like.

There are many golf practice apparatus and methods in the market that allow golfer to practice hitting golf balls in a confined space indoor or outdoor. Unfortunately, the problems are as many as the products in the market due to the unreasonable structures or the materials of poor quality. Safety, durability, and flexibility are hardly found in one product. Golfers have to face a dilemma of choice. We can short a hole in one, why can't we find a whole in one with safety, durability and flexibility for our golfers?

This invention has a reasonable and elaborate design and structure that assures the safety and durability, and the material chosen assures the flexibility for set up, storage and transport. It can be easily used indoor and outdoor without any complicated process.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A foldable golf practice tent is disclosed. This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of disclosed concepts in a simplified form that are further described in Detailed Description including the drawings provided. This Summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter. Nor is this Summary intended to be used to limit the claimed subject matter's scope.

In one embodiment, a foldable golf practice tent is disclosed. The foldable golf practice tent comprises a ceiling, a back, left and right sides, a floor, and an open face for accepting golf balls that have been hit into the tent. An elastic frame structure provides structural support to the tent, and a planar net coupled to the front of the ceiling, such that the net hangs from the ceiling, partially slops towards the back of the tent and extends loosely towards the floor, wherein the net is placed behind the open face such that golf balls that have been hit into the tent contact the net and drop within the tent.

The foldable golf practice tent requires no assembly, and has a structure that can unfold automatically in a second and be folded into a small portable size without disassembling any structural parts. It is easy to store, transit, and use indoors and outdoors.

Additional aspects of the disclosed embodiment will be set forth in part in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the disclosed embodiments. The aspects of the disclosed embodiments will be realized and attained by means of the elements and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims. It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and are not restrictive of the disclosed embodiments, as claimed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the disclosed embodiments. The embodiments illustrated herein are presently preferred, it being understood, however, that the invention is not limited to the precise arrangements and instrumentalities shown, wherein;

FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of a foldable golf practice tent, according to an example embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a side view showing a frame structure and net position, according to an example embodiment;

FIG. 3 is the elastic frame structure of a foldable golf practice tent, according to an example embodiment;

FIG. 4 is the joint structure of frame sticks, according to an example embodiment;

FIG. 5 illustrates a portion of frame stick connect to the tent, according to an example embodiment;

FIG. 6-7 illustrates steps involved in folding a foldable golf practice tent for storage, according to an example embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following detailed description refers to the accompanying drawings. Whenever possible, the same reference numbers are used in the drawings and the following description to refer to the same or similar elements. While discloses embodiments may be described, modifications, adaptations, and other implementations are possible. For example, substitutions, additions or modifications may be made to the elements illustrated in the drawings, and the methods described herein may be modified by substituting reordering, or adding additional stages or components to the disclosed methods and devices. Accordingly, the following detailed description does not limit the disclosed embodiments. Instead, the proper scope of the disclosed embodiments is defined by the appended claims.

The disclosed embodiments improve upon the problems with the prior art by providing a foldable golf practice tent having a partially sloping net coupled to the tent. The disclosed embodiments improve over the prior art by providing a fold golf practice tent that allows a user to use real golf balls while reducing the risk of physical injury and likelihood of damage to the tent. Additionally, the invention improves over the prior art by providing a foldable elastic structure which can be easily folded, unfolded, carried and stored both indoors and outdoors. Lastly, the disclosed embodiments improve over the prior art by providing a loosely hanging and partially sloping net that retains golf balls that have been hit into the tent at any speed and absorbs the impact energy of golf balls, thereby facilitating the retrieval of the golf balls for the player.

Referring now to the Figures, FIG. 1 illustrates a front perspective view of a foldable golf practice tent 100, according to an example embodiment. The foldable golf practice tent comprises a frame 110 and a fabric 113 supported by frame 110. A frame 110 includes a pair of frame sticks A and B. The frame sticks A and B are arranged to form a support structure shown as FIG. 3. The frame sticks A and B are connected to the fabric 113 through the sleeves sewn with fabric 113 shown as FIG. 4 and FIG. 5. The fabric 113 includes a ceiling, a back, right and left sides that form a tent with a floor 117 to retain the golf balls inside. The fabric is formed from netting material that can reduce the risk of injury and damage.

The support sticks 112 stretch the ceiling and the planar net 115 is hung at the front ends of sticks 112. The planar net 115 is pulled toward the back of the tent by the bonds 119 to form a slope inside the tent. FIG. 2 is the side view of the foldable golf practice tent 100. The support stick 112 is fixed by the sleeve 120 sewn on the fabric 113 and two or three sticks are used. The position of planar net 115 is shown in FIG. 2, the design of hanging of the net is to extend the area to block the golf ball and absorb the impact of the golf ball as possible. So that the golf ball has no appreciable recoil velocity after it hits the planar net 115. The net slopes towards the back to assure the net hung inside the tent, thereby the golf ball will be retained in the tent.

The frame sticks A and B are formed of a flexible material that has a memory for the erected structure of FIG. 1-3. Fiber is a suitable material for forming the frame sticks A and B. The ends of the frame stick A preferably are connected together by any convenient means so that the frame stick A is a continuous loop. The ends of the frame stick B preferably are also connected together to form a continuous loop. This elastic structure makes the foldable golf practice tent according to an example embodiment into one simple unit. Golfers don't need to assemble when set up it or disassemble when store it. It will erect in a second after unfolded and be folded into a small portable size after practice be done.

The design of tent and net according to the invention embodies the safety of the product. When the golf balls with high speed contact the loose net, they are wrapped up by the net instantly. The impact energy soundly is absorbed by the soft net, and the golf ball drops to the ground within or along the soft net. The fabric made of netting material also does the same job if contacts the golf balls. The balls will be retained and limited in the tent and it assures that the balls wouldn't rebound to harm the golfer. The hanging net prevents any damages from hitting the structural parts and the durability will be assured. The elastic frame structure makes this product light, solid, easy folding and unfolding. This advantage assures the flexibility for set up, storage, transport, indoor and outdoor use without any complicated process.

Although the subject matter has been described in language specific to structural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understood that the subject matter defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above. Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed as example forms of implementing the claims. 

We claim:
 1. A foldable golf practice tent comprising: a tent having a ceiling, a back, left and right side, a floor and an open face for accepting golf balls that have been hit into the tent; an elastic frame structure connected to the fabric of the tent that provides structural support for the tent; and a planar net coupled to the front of the ceiling, such that the net hangs from the ceiling, partially slops towards the back of the tent and extends loosely towards the floor, wherein the net is placed behind the open face such that golf balls that have been hit into the tent contact the net and drop within the tent.
 2. The foldable golf practice tent of claim 1, wherein 4 fasteners are sewn along net, 2 in top and 2 in one-third of net, and wherein each fastener is adapted for attaching a portion of the net to a portion of the tent.
 3. The foldable golf practice tent of claim 1, wherein the tent is changeable between an opened position and folded position.
 4. The foldable golf practice tent of claim 1, wherein each of the fasteners is a strap.
 5. The foldable golf practice tent of claim 1, wherein the elastic frame structure comprises the fiber frame stick A and B, wherein each of the fiber frame sticks are extendable to shape the tent when the tent is unfolded, or each of the fiber frame sticks are bendable when the tent is folded into a small portable size.
 6. The foldable golf practice tent of claim 1, wherein the foldable tent is configured for opening and folding within seconds, and wherein the foldable tent is configured for placement on any substantially horizontal surface. 